- Name: Sri Lanka
- Captain: Dasun Shanaka
- Head Coach: Mickey Arthur
- Squad members: 15
- Best result: Champions in 2014
- WT20 2016 result: Super 10s
The biggest embarrassment for this team came even before the 2021 T20 World Cup began. It’s the fact that this Test playing national and former T20 World Cup winner (2014) is having to play qualifiers with associate nations to make their way into the main draw. Sri Lanka as a team has been like a pack of wounded lions and we won’t be too surprised if they even stumble while in the qualifiers. However, they’re expected to come through to the Super 12s stage.
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When the T20 World Cup squad deadline arrived, Kamindu Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep and Praveen Jayawickrama failed to make the 15-man squad while Lahiru Madushanka had a fractured collarbone, so had to be dropped too. The positive for them is that they won their two warm up games before the qualifiers and prior to that, beat Oman 2-0 in a 2-match series in Oman itself. However, they lost 0-3 to South Africa prior to that.
Leading the side is Dasun Shanaka who is one of the better all-rounders we’ve seen in the country of late but he doesn’t use himself with the ball as much. His captaincy could be better but personally, expect some big hitting in the death overs from his bat. Their opponents in the 2021 T20 World Cup Qualifiers include Namibia, Ireland and Netherlands on 18, 20, 22 October respectively, and all of them are capable of causing upsets.
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You’d want to put quite a few bucks on Wanindu Hasaranga doing well in this tournament. He’s been one of the lone shining lights for them in the last 12-18 months and was the sole representative for Sri Lanka in the recent IPL 2021 season as well. When needed (quite often, considering Sri Lanka batting collapses), he can get a few runs for them as well. Their x-factor player this series could be Chamika Karunaratne who hasn’t been dismissed in his last 4 batting outings, and he’s got 4 wickets in those games as well.
In he bowling department, they’ve got a couple of pacers who could really ruffle a few feathers, especially during the Qualifiers. We’re talking about Dushmantha Chameera as one of them who has been around since quite a while now but his career has been filled with injuries. If he manages to stay fit, we could see him get quite a few wickets while Charith Asalanka is one of the newer ones who can bring in quite some pace and bowls a mean bouncer as well.
It was unfortunate that Isuru Udana announced his retirement right before the 2021 World T20 because we feel he could’ve made a big difference on these pitches. Instead, they’ll have to rely more on someone like Akila Dananjaya who can be expensive at time but when he sticks in, he can really spin a web around his opponents, Currently #24 on the ICC T20 Bowlers charts, he even picked a hat-trick against West Indies recently.
Sri Lanka – T20 World Cup 2021 Betting
With the bat, keep an eye on Avishka Fernando. Though he’s only 23 years old, he’s been to a World Cup before (50-over WC 2019) and has 5 fifties and 3 centuries at the highest level already. Ever since departing to Oman/UAE, Fernando has three fifties in his last 4 games and is in the form of his life. Apart from him, we can expect a few runs from Dinesh Chandimal who has made a good comeback in his career and is likely to open in this tournament.
They have a couple of other good middle order batsmen who can turn up the tempo in the middle overs, like Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Pathum Nissanka. However, these two haven’t proved to be as consistent as they should be at the highest level, so much so that Rajapaksa may not even be regular first-choice player. Unfortunately, three of their better players were banned for a year earlier in 2021, in Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella.
SRI LANKA T20 World Cup 2021 squad: Dasun Shanaka (C), Kusal Janith Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando.
That will cause to be a big loss to them in this 2021 T20 World Cup campaign but they have to make do with what they have now. Dhananjaya de Silva is someone who could make or break their tournament as well, since he’s going to bat in the upper middle order and is likely to bowl in every game as well. Scores of 1, 1, 4, 1 and the fact that he hasn’t bowled in his last four games aren’t very good signs for him though.
For more updates on Sri Lanka’s campaign at the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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